


Alt. 8 Adverse Reactions (Lancelot)

by Onehelluvapilot



Series: Whumptober 2020 [24]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: (implied) - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Supernatural (TV) Fusion, Character Death In Dream, Djinni & Genies, Gen, Hurt Lancelot (Merlin), Hurt/Comfort, Poison, Whump, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:08:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27162958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onehelluvapilot/pseuds/Onehelluvapilot
Summary: Okay this one says adverse reactions but really it's another No. 22 DruggedElyan and Arthur rescue Lancelot from the clutches of a djinn, but unfortunately that isn't the end of it as he reacts badly to the drugs the monster used on him.
Relationships: Elyan & Lancelot (Merlin)
Series: Whumptober 2020 [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1952440
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	Alt. 8 Adverse Reactions (Lancelot)

Lancelot could still feel his slashed wrists when he woke up, and still groggy, it took him a minute to realize that the pain was from a coarse rope tied around them. He dangled by his wrists from what seemed to be a beam in a warehouse. There was a fierce pain in his right shoulder which he recognized as stemming from dislocation, and he could scarcely breathe in that position. Now that he was conscious, he could just about stand on tiptoe and get the weight off of his arms. It wouldn't last long, he knew, as exhaustion was already dragging at him. He couldn't do anything for the needle he could feel and just barely see in his neck either. He may have escaped the djinn's fantasy world just to die by crucifixion in the real one.

"Lance!" He heard a shout, and opened his eyes in time to see Elyan rush over to him. "Hey buddy, hang on, I'm gonna get you down from there."

He pulled the needle in his neck out first and then began sawing at the ropes with a knife. Lancelot let all his weight come down on them, partially to put tension in them and make it easier for Elyan to cut but mostly just because he couldn't hold himself up any longer. The last strands broke with a snap that sent the hunter crashing to the concrete floor. Elyan grabbed him quickly and, while he was not able to fully catch him, at least managed to guide his fall. They both came down to their knees, with Lancelot sitting back on his heels as well. His forehead rested against Elyan’s shoulder, and his hands grabbed tightly onto the loose fabric of the hunter's flannel near his elbows.

"Lance, talk to me man," the other hunter begged. His arms moved as if wanting to push the other man back a little to be able to see his face, but Lancelot's own grip tightened in response to keep them down. He couldn't have his dislocated shoulder pushed on, and at the moment couldn't find the words to explain that. 

"This is real, yeah?" He asked instead, desperately. "Not another djinn fantasy?"

"Arthur killed the djinn," Elyan told him. "This is real."

"Oh thank god," he muttered, letting himself relax more completely against his shoulder. His breathing eased a little along with the fear, though it was still fast. He was shaking too, a fine tremor running through his body. The other hunter could feel it and carefully wrapped his arms around Lancelot's back in response.

"You're okay," he soothed. "I've got you."

Arthur came into the room, still holding a knife that now dripped with mingled lamb and djinn blood. Elyan sent him a tight-jawed look of worry about their common friend who he now held trembling in his arms, at the same time telling him not to say anything. The other hunter clearly got the message, and just nodded before returning to his car.

Elyan held Lancelot for about ten minutes, becoming more and more concerned that it might be something more than pure fear or relief that kept him silent and shaking. He was just about to try to rouse his friend when Lance sat up more or less on his own. If his eyes glistened wetly in the low light, he said nothing of it.

"We should get out of here," Elyan said instead. "Think you can walk?"

Lance nodded, and Elyan started getting to his feet. He extended his right hand down to help the other man up, but he just shook his head in response.

"Better use left; my right shoulder is dislocated," he explained, finally able to find the words.

"Do you want me to pop it back into place now, to get it over with?" Elyan offered. “We didn’t bring Merlin with us, unfortunately.” Lance shook his head again.

"No offense, but I think that at this moment, even a momentary surge of pain would be enough to put me into shock." Elyan nodded, understanding in his eyes, and simply offered his left hand instead. Lancelot allowed himself to be helped up that way, and, as he wasn't exactly steady on his feet, let the other hunter support him on that side with the undamaged arm around his shoulders and the man's right hand a steadying presence on the small of his back. They made their slow way out to where Arthur waited beside his car.

"How's it going Lance?" The other hunter asked casually. It might have sounded cruel and uncaring, but Lancelot knew it was simply because he didn’t know how to react to people in pain, since his father had taught him not to worry about anyone who wasn’t another Man of Letters.

"I've had better days," Lancelot admitted. Arthur opened the door to the car’s back seat for him. He didn't get in immediately. "Elyan, I think I can handle the shoulder now."

The hunter nodded, and nodded to Arthur as Lance leaned against the hood of the car. They apparently didn't need words to communicate as Arthur stepped up on his right side while Elyan’s grip shifted to hold Lance still rather than to support and comfort.

"On three," Arthur warned as he took hold of the dislocated arm, and then shoved it back into its socket on two. Lancelot's choked off shout covered up the noise of the joint popping, and after it was done he sagged a little against Elyan. Both of the other hunters helped him into the backseat.

The only sounds were the rain and the engine, as none of the men spoke. It was even more surprising, then, when Lance ordered them to pull over. His tone was more desperate than demanding and the driver obeyed immediately. The rear door opened before they were even fully stopped, and Lance stumbled out to retch into the mud and grass at the side of the road. The front doors opened a second later and Elyan and Arthur got out. Apparently deciding to give him space though, they stayed standing right by their respective doors.

"You doing alright there?" Arthur asked as Lance braced himself with his hands on his knees, still coughing.

"Just need a minute," he replied, voice rough.

“Arthur, correct me if I’m wrong, but Merlin didn’t mention any of these kind of after effects when he sent us the research on djinn,” Elyan said. Arthur shook his head in agreement.

“No, I don’t remember anything about it either. We’ll call him as soon as we get back to the motel and ask.”

Lancelot trudged back over to the car, footsteps heavy and nearly slipping in the mud right before he grabbed the door handle.

“Are you okay to travel?” Elyan asked as they all climbed back into the car.

“Yeah, I think so. Just be ready to pull over again.”

“Got it,” the driver agreed as he pulled back out onto the empty road. It was quiet for a few long minutes until Arthur broke the silence.

“Are you okay? I mean, like, emotionally,” he asked awkwardly. “I imagine it can’t have been easy, getting to live in your greatest fantasy and then getting yanked back to, well, here.”

“I’ll be okay. I knew it wasn’t real from the start. But it… it was kind of hard leaving Gracie.”

“Gracie?” Arthur asked. Was that his girlfriend in the dream? Wife maybe?

“My little sister. That was the fantasy, that she had never died.”

“Oh.” Arthur felt bad, then, for not knowing the name of Lance’s little sister. He knew she had died, along with the rest of his family, when he was young, killed by a demon. The hunter didn’t talk about it often, and had only brought it up once in passing while explaining why he had become a hunter.

“How did you get out?” Elyan asked. “I never would have been able to escape a fantasy where my mother was still alive.”

“Merlin helped. I was a sheriff’s deputy and he was a hunter, who showed up to a case with a fake FBI badge. No idea who I was, of course, beyond a small time cop he'd have to work with on the case, but he believed me when I told him I knew him, and helped me figure out how to get home. I think he was a manifestation of the part of my subconscious that wanted to escape. Helped convince me it wasn't real and that if we were friends in the real world, that I did have something to go back to."

The conversation fell quiet after that as Lance decided he was done talking. They made it to a cheap motel without having to pull over again, and after Elyan went in to rent a room, the recently-rescued hunter was able to walk to it under his own power. Arthur could see he was still shaking though.

“I’m gonna go take a shower,” he announced. 

"Lance, uh, leave the bathroom door unlocked," Elyan instructed awkwardly. "No offense, but you're still a little unsteady on your feet, and if you fall or pass out or anything, I want to be able to help." Lancelot nodded, and when he closed the door, they were relieved not to hear the click of the lock. 

He came out about twenty minutes later, looking slightly less out of it but still pale and shaky. Stumbling over to the bed, he sat down heavily on the edge of it and let his head fall down into his hands.

"Lance, are you sure you don't want to go to the ER? I'm worried about what kind of after effects those drugs may be having on you," Elyan said.

"And tell them what?" he replied with a groan. "I'll be fine once I get some rest." He seemed intent on getting it now, pulling the blankets up over him as he hauled his feet into the bed with some difficulty. The other two hunters glanced at each other in quiet worry.

"We'll be just outside the room if you need anything," Elyan said as he stepped outside. Lancelot, already curled up under the blankets with his back to them, gave no indication that he had heard. "You called Merlin, right?” he asked Arthur after the door closed.

“Yeah. He said Lancelot’s probably just having a bad reaction to whatever drug cocktail the djinn pumped him full of, but he should be okay. He's on his way here now.”

“Good.” Elyan and Arthur were friends with Lancelot, close friends even, but they didn’t know how to comfort him in the same way as Merlin, Gwen, or Percival.

“He said just to keep him warm and calm in the meantime.” Elyan nodded and went back into the room. He had a feeling that both the fantasy he'd been trapped in and the drugs in his system would only make Lancelot's usual nightmares worse. He wanted to be able to comfort him, as best as he was able, when he woke up.


End file.
